FAULTY LINGUAL
Meghan Markle impresses with her French in Morocco while Prince Harry is lost for words
The seven months pregnant Duchess of Sussex took part in a traditional henna ceremony for expectant mums
MEGHAN impressed with her French speaking in Morocco yesterday but Prince Harry was rather lost for words.
As pregnant Meghan, 37, took part in a traditional henna ceremony for expectant mums, Harry tried out the local lingo.
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The Eton-educated royal said “Bonjour” before asking “Do you speak English? I don’t speak much French.”
His wife fared far better with what she confessed to me was “only High School French”.
The Duchess of Sussex was given a traditional henna tattoo to bring her baby luck.
The ceremony took place at a girls’ boarding house in the Atlas Mountains.
But at a glitzy reception at the ambassador’s house last night, where she wowed in a white Dior dress, the flower tattoo on her left hand seemed to have almost disappeared.
Meghan teamed the Moroccan- inspired frock with £6,950 diamond earrings and a clutch also by Dior.
The couple arrived in Casablanca on Saturday for a three-day tour.
Yesterday they met schoolgirls to learn more about female education in the North African country.
At the boarding house in Asni, Samira Ouaadi, 17, painted three flowers on Meghan’s hand.
The duchess watched intently as Samira quickly drew the design, while encouraging Harry, 34, to watch and to take the mint tea they had been offered.
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Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle talks to school children while visiting a Education For All School in Morocco
“That’s really lovely” Meghan said as she proudly showed the tattoo to Harry, before adding, “Merci”.
Dye made from henna plant stays on the skin as a tattoo for up to two weeks. The brown paste is made from pulping the bark.
Samira said: “It’s like the plant of paradise. It is to bring luck to the mother and the baby.”
“It’s tradition for pregnant women in Morocco to have a henna tattoo. We do it for major celebrations like getting married.”
One concerned official asked Meghan if she wanted to wash the inking off immediately, but the duchess laughed and said: “It will dry as we walk through.”
Baby Sussex was quite the theme for the girls, as they sang songs of welcome and good luck for the child, which is due in April.
After the ceremony, Harry and Meghan met some of the girls who live in the boarding house run by charity Education for All and who go to a secondary school opposite.
Meghan asked: “Qu’est-de que tu veux etre quand tu quittes l'école?” (What do you want to do when you leave school). Vous voulez aller à l'université?” (Do you want to go to university?).
She was very impressed when the girls told her they wanted to be teachers, engineers and doctors.
Saida Obha, 18, said: “Her French was good. It was a surprise she spoke it so well. But Harry said he didn’t speak French at all.”
As they left, Meghan ran over to two little girls who had waited hours to meet the royals.
Rania, five, and Rayhana, two, accompanied by mum Clare Minejem, waved British and Moroccan flags.
Meghan shook their hands and said: “Hi girls, so cute! What are your names? So sweet!”
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She showed them the henna drawing on her hand and said: ‘Nice, isn’t it? So pretty!”
At the school, when one of the teachers congratulated Meghan on her pregnancy, she jokingly turned to Harry, showed her bump and said: “Surprise! She’s pregnant?!”
The couple enjoyed lunch at Sir Richard Branson’s hotel Kasbah Tamadot, with amazing mountain views — before taking a helicopter back to the capital Rabat.
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The girls of the Education For All school sing Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle a welcome song
By Arthur Edwards, Sun Royal Photographer
DESPITE being heavily pregnant, Meghan is coping with the rigours of a royal tour admirably.
The British Ambassador offered her a chair, but in spite of her bump she waved it away, squatting with the children.
Later, watching a football match with the prince in the hot sun, she enjoyed every minute.
After her partying in New York last week, the duchess is showing amazing energy levels.
With her prince, she is representing the Queen on this trip.
She is doing us all proud.
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